You and I
by little red after the wolf
Summary: Boys are stupid anyways. — rilaya


Rain is pouring down, draping both of us in its freezing presence. It wasn't supposed to rain today, we hadn't brought umbrellas or anything like that with us. I'm wearing a dress, I'm so not suited for the rain right now. But maybe it's okay, I'm with Maya, after all. Best friends make everything better.

"Jesus, Riles, let's get hoodies in that store," she suggests, shivering and pointing at a clothing shop ahead of us.

"Sounds good, Maya," I say, running my hands over the goosebumps on my arms.

She looks at me, her eyes softening. "Here," she says, handing me her jacket. It's light and not much but it's still a sweet gesture. She's such a good friend. Sigh, I'm so lucky that my best friend is this amazing. Smiling, I put it on. It's cold but I feel warmer than before. It smells like she does, that pretty perfume she likes so much. She lets me borrow it sometimes.

The rain is still freezing and people are still pushing past us but Maya grabs my hand so we don't get separated.

In the mix of colors and people and rain, merging like a kaleidoscope. It's beautiful and Maya's hand is so warm and soft. I think this is happiness, being in the rain, surrounded by such pretty colors, with the scent of this perfume, and holding my best friend's hand. The only way this moment could get any better is if Lucas were here. Kissing me. And giving me flowers. In a tux.

Sigh, Lucas . . . He's perfect.

"Riley, stop fantasizing about Lucas," Maya teases me, smiling. She knows me so well.

I giggle, resting my head on her shoulder. "But he's _so_ cute," I sigh.

It feels like her shoulders tense and I think I hear her breath hitch. She mutters something I don't catch and drags me to the store, her hand still anchored in mine.

We pick out matching hoodies (so, maybe I insist that we get matching hoodies) and buy an umbrella so we won't catch pneumonia. Maya steals a beanie without anyone but me noticing. I consider scolding her but she smirks at me and winks to shush me. Sometimes she looks so cool and pretty, I really wanna be like her. Maybe Lucas will like me then.

Lucas, he's pretty . . .

"Earth to Riley, are you there?" She waves her hand in my face.

"What?" I blink, blushing.

"Thinking about Lucas again?" She asks, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes," I admit, ducking my head into her shoulder.

"It's okay," she laughs, patting my head, "let's distract you from Ranger Rick."

"Huh? What do you mean?" I ask her, not sure what to expect from my best friend.

* * *

She drags me all the way to an ice cream vendor, under our umbrella. This isn't at all the weather to eat ice cream in but she knows I love ice cream too much to say no.

She buys us one to share and we huddle in the cold to eat it with spoons. She steals the cherry and ties the stem into a little bow before throwing it onto the sidewalk.

"That was so pretty," I mutter, wistfully. My head finds itself on her shoulder again as I eat a spoonful.

"Do you want me to tie you another one?" She asks, looking down at me. I nod, sneaking a bite off of her spoon. "Hey! Get your own," she playfully smacks me. I giggle, finishing off our ice cream.

"I love you," I tell her, smiling happily.

"I love you too," she sighs, grabbing my hand, "now come on."

* * *

We come to an awkward stop, in a giggly mess of rain soaked legs and fingers intertwined. I don't think there's a better feeling than that of holding your best friend's hand. Well, maybe being kissed but I haven't felt that yet.

"Remember that cardboard castle from when we were kids?" Maya asks.

"Of course, we used to dance all night long in that thing," I grin in reminiscence.

"M'lady, may I have this dance?" She asks, holding out a hand to me. She's officially the bestest best friend in the history of best friends.

Giggling, I nod and take her hand. She leads like she always did, as Prince Charming. I awkwardly step on her toe as we dance, the rain pouring buckets down on us. "Sorry," I whisper, blushing. She smirks and twirls me, silently telling me not to worry about it. All is well, her warm hand in mine reminds me, her other hand at my waist.

There's no music, only the sound of rain crashing down and strangers walking by us. Well, no, there's music. A soft jazz song from far away, probably playing for tips. It's so faint and off-tune to our dance though.

Maya dips me, catching me off guard and making my stomach drop. She laughs at my wide eyes and panicked yelp.

I think this is as perfect as dancing in the rain can get.

The music stops for a bit, the saxophonist definitely too wet to keep playing, but we dance just a bit longer. Until our shoes are too soggy for us to dance properly anymore.

"That was fun," I smile at her, "that was a lot of fun."

"I know," she shrugs, modestly.

"You're the absolute best, you know that?" I say.

"I know," she smirks, her eyes lighting up like candles. "How does lunch sound?"

My stomach rumbles in response and our hands are anchored together again.

* * *

We stop at a McDonald's and walk in, leaving puddles in our wake. Maya, unabashedly brave as always, steps up, pushes some old dude out of her way, and orders for us both. She gets my order perfect, she knows me so well.

I make her let me split the price this time and she carries our food to a table while I fill up our soda cups. I make Maya her favorite suicide drink, sipping at it until it's just the way she likes it. Then, I fill up mine and balance them all the way to our table where she waits, her beanie dripping wet and the umbrella refusing to close for her.

"Need a hand?" I tease her, putting down our drinks.

"No," she grunts, forcing it shut, "stupid thing's already broken."

"I told you that place was cheap," I smile, happy to be right.

"Nyeh," she retorts, childishly. I love when she gets all kid-like and grumpy just because I'm right.

We eat our fries and McNuggets with conversation about normal best friend stuff. I ask her if she likes anyone and she blushes and rejects the idea.

"Ooh, you like someone! Maya Hart has a crush! Who is it? What's his name? Is he in our grade? Ooh, I bet he's cute! Tell me _everything!_" I plead, excited.

"Shut up, Riles," she hisses, her face still red.

"Only if you tell me the deets," I bargain.

"Fine, fine. If it'll shut you up," she grumbles. "So . . . Um . . . He's in our grade, we've known him for a really long time, his name is kinda weird, and, yeah, he's really, really cute. He's also kind of dorky and funny, also, awkward, really, really socially awkward. It's adorable, like how neurotic he gets about stupid stuff. He always has to do the right thing and it's so sweet and I kind of really like how he balances me out like that. And when he laughs, it's like his whole world just lights up like the fourth of July. And he says the stupidest things sometimes and does the stupidest things but he makes them so, so cute . . ." She trails off, her cheeks red and her eyes glazed over.

"Oh, my God," I whisper, realizing who she likes.

"What?" She asks, alarmed. I can see how scared she is in her eyes and how tense her shoulders are. "R—Riles, is it that bad? I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said anything, I'm so stupid—I just—"

"You like Farkle!" I exclaim. It's so weird and Maya is so pretty, she could do a lot better than Farkle—not that there's anything wrong with Farkle, he's just . . . Farkle.

"Huh?" She blinks. Then, she cringes a little, "uh, yeah, he's so . . . Farkle."

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" I whine, "wait, when did you realize?"

"Um, just a few weeks ago," she mutters, "it just clicked in my head."

"So, you've known you liked Farkle for weeks and you didn't tell me, your best friend, anything? _Maya,_" I complain.

"Sorry, Riley, I just . . . Wasn't sure how you'd react," she shrugs, "let's talk about something else now. _Anything_ else."

I look into her eyes for a second, not sure if I should push on about her crush on Farkle or not. Something about how squeamish she looks tells me not to though.

* * *

"Oh, my God! It's almost eight! Maya, my curfew!" I exclaim, grabbing her by the shoulders and shaking her.

"Sheesh, relax, Riley. It'll be fine, we're almost at the subway and then we'll be at your house in like no time," she says, calmly. She's always calm and collected and all cool like this, it makes me kind of jealous. I wanna be like that.

"Yeah, you're right. Okay, yeah," I nod, "we're good, we've got time."

"Not that much though," she notes, dragging me by the hand onto the subway and through the door. I start freaking out again.

* * *

It's 7:58 when we get to my apartment. We're almost late but Maya laughs and tells me to slow down. It's still raining and the umbrella is still broken so she just looks up, letting the drops break against her skin. She looks so peaceful, so happy.

I look up too.

I don't get the same peaceful, happy bliss she does though. I get a mouth and nose full of water. Which I promptly cough out.

"You okay, honey?" She asks, patting my back with concern.

"Yeah," I manage, "just a little waterlogged."

She laughs at that and rolls her eyes. "Uhuh, honey." It's so playful coming from her that I laugh too. "Hey, look, they're fixing that part of the sidewalk," she notes, looking at the drying part.

"Oh, yeah, I think they started this morning," I comment, "I saw it on the way to school."

She smirks at that. I don't ask what she's come up with, my phone tells me it's my curfew before I can. We rush up to my apartment as fast as we can, me dragging her along.

Panting and out of breath, we reach my door.

"You didn't even think of him once, did you?" She asks me. I don't get what she means at first. Then it hits me.

Lucas.

I hadn't thought of him since she said she would distract me from him, he hadn't crossed my mind at all.

"No," I grin.

"Mission accomplished then," she laughs, hugging me, "I'll see you in the morning, kiddo."

* * *

The next morning, I see it in the sidewalk. In the part they'd been fixing. Someone had carved "R+M" in a heart.

"I have the most amazing best friend," I laugh to myself.

* * *

_reviews are love. _

_also, i now have a tumblr, it's called "takeadvantageofanopportunity" and my blog, "we can still be friends" will have story related things. and a lot of not story related things, like my edits and rants about my ships. also, me asking for prompts._


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